Cyclone Murasu wreaks havoc along eastern coast of India

Severe cyclonic storm Murasu has left a trail of destruction in coastal Andhra Pradesh in southern India, after making landfall early Tuesday.

It comes days after Cyclone Arnab made landfall along India's southern coast, leaving five people dead.

The cyclone wreaked havoc in the coastal state, uprooting thousands of trees, damaging hundreds of electric poles, and wrecking fishing boats, Press Trust of India reported.

In an update, the Met Department said the landfall of severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu began over south coastal Andhra Pradesh at 1 am local time (1930GMT Monday).

"The landfall process continues. In the forward sector of the cyclone, part of a wall cloud entered into land and the eye is touching the coast. Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu over West central Bay of Bengal close to South Andhra Pradesh coast," the weather department wrote on the US social media platform X.

The landfall brought heavy rainfall accompanied by winds reaching speeds of up to 110 kilometers (68 miles) per hour.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu directed officials to prepare for the cyclone. He said estimates suggest that due to the impact of the cyclone, 6,000 to 8,000 electricity poles may be damaged, posing a "severe threat to power supply."

In neighboring Odisha state, authorities shifted 151,434 people to safe places as the government stepped up preparedness measures in vulnerable areas to mitigate the potential impact of the cyclone.